Why Does Nobody Understand What My Business Does? How to Describe Your Business Clearly.

Fifteen seconds into explaining. Their eyes glaze over.

You know the look. That polite nod. The smile that doesn't quite reach their eyes. The person who asked what you do is now mentally writing their grocery list while you're mid-sentence.

It happens at networking events. Family dinners. Even on sales calls with people who should want to hear this.

You're not boring. Your work isn't boring. But somewhere between "So what do you do?" and your answer, you lost them.

And here's what nobody's telling you: this isn't about your elevator pitch needing work. It's not about confidence. It's about something deeper that's costing you clients, referrals, and the recognition you've earned.

You're Explaining the How, Not the What

Here's the truth. You're explaining the process when people need to hear the problem.

You're so close to your work, so deep in the details of how you do what you do, that you've forgotten what it's like not to know. It's like when someone asks for directions, and you give them every street name, landmark, and traffic light instead of just saying, "Turn left at the Starbucks."

Your customer doesn't need the recipe. They need to know if the food tastes good.

Think about the last time you went to the doctor. You had a headache. You didn't want a lecture on neurological pathways. You wanted to know: can you fix this? That's it. That's the whole conversation.

But when someone asks what you do, you're giving them the neurological pathway lecture. The five-step process. The methodology. The framework you spent three years developing.

And their eyes glaze over.

This isn't your fault. It's called the curse of knowledge. You're an expert. You live in this world. But your customer doesn't. They're still trying to figure out if you can help them, and you're already explaining how the engine works.

You know what this feels like? Remember trying to program your VCR in 1995? The manual was 47 pages long. All you wanted to do was record Friends on Thursday nights. But the manual assumed you already understood tracking, channels, and timer settings. You didn't need to know how the VCR worked. You needed to know which three buttons to push.

That's what's happening when you describe your business. You're handing people the 47-page manual. They just want to know which three buttons to push.

What Your Customer Actually Needs to Hear

Remember those magazine quizzes in the 90s? "Is He Into You?" "What's Your Real Career Path?" They didn't start with theory. They started with the thing you were already worried about at 2 a.m.

That's what your business description needs to do.

Your business isn't about you. It's not about your process, your credentials, or even your passion. It's about your customer. Their problem. Their frustration. The thing they want fixed.

Until you can talk about that, you're just making noise.

Here's what's wild: you probably already know this. You've taken the courses. Read the books. Hired the consultants. But somewhere between knowing it and doing it, something got lost. Because when it's your own business, when you've poured your heart into building something that actually works, it's hard to step back and see it through fresh eyes.

You're too close. And being too close makes you explain too much.

And if you're a woman running a business, you already know you don't have time for noise. You're not trying to become a social media influencer. You're trying to build something real. Something that works. Something that lets you make a living while making a difference.

That starts with being understood.

How to Describe What You Do (So People Actually Get It)

The fix isn't complicated. But it does require you to step outside your expert brain for a minute.

You need to understand your Buyer Persona. Not the demographic kind. The real kind. The Buyer Persona Institute calls it understanding the attitudes, concerns, and decision criteria that drive your customers to choose you. It's about knowing them well enough to speak their language.

This is about getting inside their head. What keeps them up at night? What are they afraid will never get better? What do they want so badly they can taste it?

When you know this, everything changes. You stop talking about your process. You start talking about their problem. You stop selling features. You start selling relief.

Think about the difference between talking to your best friend and talking to a stranger at a conference. With your best friend, you don't have to explain the backstory. You don't have to define terms. You can say "you know that thing where..." and she already knows. That's the level of understanding you're aiming for with your ideal client.

Not because you're friends. But because you understand their world so well that your words feel like you pulled them straight from their brain.

Here's where to start:

Talk to your best clients. Not a survey. An actual conversation. Ask them what life was like before they found you. What made them start looking for help. What almost stopped them from reaching out. Then listen. Don't lead. Don't explain. Just listen.

This part feels awkward at first. You might worry you're bothering them. You're not. Your best clients usually love talking about their transformation. They want to help you help more people like them. So ask. Take notes. Record it if they'll let you. Pay attention to the exact words they use to describe their problems.

Look for the patterns. What words do they use? What phrases come up again and again? What's the real problem under the problem they think they have?

You're looking for the thing they all say. The frustration that shows up in every conversation. The fear they all share. The desire that drives them. When three different people use almost the same phrase to describe their struggle, that's gold. That's the language your business description needs.

Rewrite your description using their words. Not marketing speak. Not industry jargon. Their actual words. Research from Harvard Business Review shows that clear, logical communication is what actually gets through.

This is where it gets real. Take those phrases. Those exact words. Build your description around them. If your clients say "I felt like I was drowning," don't translate that into "overwhelmed by operational challenges." Say drowning. Use their language. Speak their truth.

This isn't about dumbing anything down. It's about making it land.

The Difference Between Talking at People and Talking to Them

Here's what this looks like in practice.

Talking at them: "We provide comprehensive digital marketing solutions, including SEO, content creation, and social media management, to increase your online visibility."

What they hear: "Blah blah technical stuff blah."

Talking to them: "You know your customers are online, but you have no idea how to reach them. We help you show up in front of the right people, so you stop wasting time on marketing that doesn't work."

Same business. Different world.

The first one is about you. The second one is about them. The first one explains the process. The second one solves the problem.

The first one sounds like every other business in your industry. The second one sounds like you've been reading their diary. The first one makes them work to understand you. The second one makes them feel understood.

And feeling understood? That's what opens wallets. That's what gets referrals. That's what builds the kind of business that doesn't have to chase clients because clients come looking for you.

If your website is doing the first thing, it might be killing your conversions.

When Being an Expert Works Against You

If you're reading this thinking, "oh god, that's me," breathe.

This doesn't mean you're bad at business. It means you're good at what you do. So good that you've forgotten what it's like not to know.

You don't need to be everything to everyone. You don't need to explain every detail. You don't need to worry about the people who don't get it.

They're not your people.

Your people are out there. They're looking for you. They're waiting for someone who understands what they're going through and can help them fix it.

They just need you to speak their language first.

Think about how it feels when someone really gets you. When you're talking and they finish your sentence, not in an annoying way, but in a "yes, exactly that" way. That's the feeling you're creating with the right business description. Not because you're psychic. Because you did the work to understand.

Stop trying to impress people with how much you know. Start trying to connect with them over what they need. Stop explaining the engine. Start talking about where the car can take them.

And if you've been shoulding all over your marketing, trying to do what everyone says you're supposed to do, it's time to stop

When you can describe what you do in a way that makes your ideal client say "yes, that's exactly what I need," you won't just have a business people understand.

You'll have a business people remember.

You'll be the one they tell their friends about. The one they save the business card for. The one they think of six months later when their friend mentions that exact problem.

Because you didn't just explain what you do. You showed them you understand who they are.

Your Next Step

Ready to stop the glazed-over stares and start connecting with the people who need you most?

The Buyer Persona GPT helps you get inside your ideal client's head so you can describe your business in a way that actually lands. Clear. Compelling. Impossible to misunderstand.

Get the Buyer Persona GPT and start describing your business with confidence.